We have all heard that some cars can be absolute dogs. Some Land Rovers and Alfas are awful suffering a never ending series of problems. And yet I expect that most owners of these makes love them. I know a Land Rover owner who has had no problems at all. Why is this? Can't be a Friday afternoon car as the various sub assemblies are made and bolted together on different days. What is about certain makes that leads to some samples being complete dogs?
Ever heard of a Micra or a Yaris with a series of faults. No? Thought not.
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Ever heard of ... a Yaris with a series of faults.
Erm, yes, actually, mine.
Had it 8 months and in that time I've had to have the following seen to:
Ratting trim removed and padded.
Window seal replaced due to distortion.
Shock absorber replaced due to noisy operation.
Timing belt cover requiring resealing. (Oil leak)
Gearbox strip and rebuild to cure whine.
Shock absorber 'not seated properly' causing worrying rattle.
I think I'll be changing it once the warranty is out as I'm not sure I can trust it and would be better getting a newer one than paying out for an extended warranty.
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I'm on my second LR - the first a Y plate ex-demo Disco, bought when it was 3 months old, not much went wrong with it other than
a transmission leak and it was used for commuting, shopping and -shock horror - off road in pursuit of my, ahem, country activities. SWMBO got it stuck down an embankment once but it served us well. We flogged it after I imported a second hand Spanish Defender, which had lived on a farmette next to my parent's place since it was new - it has been lavished with neglect until rescued last July. I drove it back from Spain and has worked for its living in the last twelve months, it has not failed to start or anything (much) fallen off, in fact it is a dog, it is faithful, always there when you want it, consumes little and expects nothing - in fact if it had a tail it would probably be a long straggly one with a giant wag !
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It doesn't only apply to cars, I'm sure we all know someone who swears by a brand of washing machine yet for some else they're complete junk. As to why who knows, maybe a just a full set of borderline parts. Some engine's are gems, others are scrap from new!
Steve.
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And TV's! My dad and uncle bought 2 TV's, 1 each, exactly the same model at the same time from same shop, 1 was never out of the repairers the other was fault free!
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I think that some cars need a lot of preventative care and maintenance but with others you can get away with a high degree of neglect. Let's face it, a lot of people do not know how to look after their cars and you often cannot rely on garages to do the maintenance properly. Thus a carefully maintained example of a "dog" can prove completely trouble free.
HJ doesn't have a good word for the Megane for example but we have just sold one that had given nearly 7 years trouble free motoring and had cost little to maintain.
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There's a risk that we all get a bit too anecdotal about this. Of *course* some "reliable" marques produce the odd lemon and other "unreliable" marques produce the odd gem. Similarly, some people who don't smoke still get lung cancer and some 17 year old new drivers manage not to have any bumps in their two years.
What we all would like to do is to reduce the risk of buying a dog. By looking at large amounts of data (e.g. surveys, fleet company records) we can start to get a feel for who makes relaible cars. Multiple sources imply that if you buy a Honda/Toyota/Mazda etc. the odds of fault-free motoring are better than with a Fiat, say
Nevertheless, statistics can only improve your odds, not predict what will happen.
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Here is a sweeping statement, but I think it holds water.
When a car manufacturer brings out a new model, it will be have been tested in the arctic, and in death valley, a few will drive several hundred thousand miles. BUT there will be faults, problems, niggles, design cockups that wont have been washed out. Plus given that its never been built in volume before, there will be problems building it that will appear in the owners hands. So the statement is, that the first years build of any new car will have a higher chance of being a dog. For manufacturers that are not renown for quality build anyway, they will be worse dogs.
Rule 1, avoid buying a car in its first year of production.
Rule 2, avoid buying cars where production has shifted from 1 factory to another, - another year of dogs.
Rule 3, avoid buying cars that have had major facelifts or spec (ie engine) changes - 6 months of pups.
Buy a car that is nearing the end of its production life, all the problems are known and built out, you get more toys for your money because the manufacturers need to shift them. But buy it cheap because the new model will depreciate your older model badly. If buying second hand - all the same rules apply, plus you get the benefit of a cheaper car because its the old model.
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